The reactors were opened in the 1970s and 1980s. Most of them have lifespans of around 40 years and are in need of modernization.
One aging reactor at the Oskarshamn plant in southeastern Sweden is due to be decommissioned between 2017 and 2019.

Friday’s agreement also set a target of 100 percent renewable energy by 2040, and called for investments in solar, wind, hydro and bioenergy.

An energy tax paid by producers will be abolished in 2019.
The tax accounts for about 30 percent of the operating cost of a reactor, and has brought in about 4.5 billion kronor (482 million euros, $545 million) in gross revenue to government coffers annually.

Global nuclear output grew by 1.3 percent in 2015 with China (+28.9 percent) accounting for all the net increase, the 65th edition of the BP Statistical Review of World Energy says. China passed South Korea to become the fourth largest supplier of nuclear power, while EU output (-2.2 percent) fell to the lowest level since 1992. The review, which looks at 2015, says nuclear power accounted for 4.4 percent of global primary energy consumption. Global primary energy consumption increased by just one percent in 2015, similar to growth in 2014 (+1.1 percent), but much slower than the 10-year average of 1.9 percent a year. Oil remained the world’s leading fuel, accounting for 32.9 percent of global energy consumption, and gaining market share for the first time since 1999. Coal remained the second largest fuel by market share (29.2 percent), but was the only fuel that lost global market share in 2015.